Hogs' AD Yurachek: ‘Simple goal’ for football team to be competitive not reached

Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek is shown during a football game between the Razorbacks and Colorado State on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek stood on the sidelines, in the tunnels and in the locker rooms during the last few Razorback football games, and he did not like what he was seeing.

Not just lopsided losses, but long faces and unhappy players.

Yurachek said Monday that he told Coach Chad Morris the day after a 54-24 home loss to Mississippi State that, in essence, the next game against Western Kentucky was win or else.

The Razorbacks lost 45-19 to the Hilltoppers and former Arkansas quarterback Ty Storey on Saturday, and the next morning Yurachek dismissed Morris after less than two years on the job.

"I thought our football program had taken some steps backwards in the past few weeks," Yurachek said at a joint news conference to introduce interim Coach Barry Lunney at the Broyles Athletic Center. "I had one goal -- one main goal -- for our football program as we headed into this season, and it was a simple goal. I wanted us to be competitive game-in and game-out. Not to win the Southeastern Conference, but to be competitive game-in and game-out.

"I think it was clear over the past couple of weeks that we were no longer competitive."

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The Razorbacks have been outscored by a school-record 138 points in their past four losses to No. 11 Auburn, at No. 1 Alabama, Mississippi State and Western Kentucky.

Arkansas fell to 4-18 under Morris, and 2-18 against FBS schools, with its seventh consecutive loss. Lunney and the Razorbacks have an open date this week, then play No. 2 LSU on the road and Missouri in Little Rock to end the year.

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Morris steps away with a buyout of roughly $10.1 million, payable in monthly installments into 2023, with a duty toward mitigation based on future employment. But the Texas prep coaching legend must also absorb a major dent to his resume in his first stint as a Power 5 head coach.

"We met after the Mississippi State game, and he understood from that meeting -- it was a very candid meeting -- that the Western Kentucky game was a really key game for him and his tenure here," Yurachek said. "I don't think our meeting [Sunday] took him totally by surprise.

"It was a tough meeting. Chad Morris is a great friend. We left that meeting with a hug and some tears, and he will remain a great friend. He understands, and I understand, that was a professional decision."

Yurachek said he made his decision to initiate the firing Saturday night. He drove to UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz's house to inform him, then Steinmetz passed the decision along to UA President Donald Bobbitt and the board of trustees. The decision was met with support at each step, Yurachek said.

Yurachek said he likely will engage a search firm to run background checks and assist in identifying candidates. He added the process started Monday.

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"As I begin this search, I have no doubt that we will have a very strong candidate pool for this head coaching position," Yurachek said before touching on the Razorbacks' history and tradition in football. "We compete in the Southeastern Conference, and we have a passionate fan base that so desperately wants for this program to be successful."

Lunney, speaking with his wife Janelle in the audience, cited his father, eight-time state champion coach Barry Lunney Sr., as a key mentor with whom he's spoken in the 24 hours since he was installed as interim coach.

He said the final three weeks of the season would be all about the players.

"Hunter felt I was the right guy for this moment, and there is no doubt in my mind that I am the right guy in this moment," Lunney said. "So our job and my job is to make sure these next few weeks that we figure out a way to play like Razorbacks.

"We've lost that the last few weeks. We're going to do our darnedest and everything we can to pump some life back into these guys and go play our best football game of the year when we go to Baton Rouge in a couple of weeks."

Lunney said he would be lying if he didn't say he had mixed reactions about taking the job at his alma mater under these circumstances.

"It's very strange in some ways, but it feels very natural in some ways," he said. "I'm flooded with memories and things of the past."

Lunney said he understood there were other coaches on the staff capable of handling the interim role, and he thanked Morris for keeping him on board during his transition in the winter of 2017.

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Lunney, who is also tight ends coach and special-teams coordinator, said he was adding special-teams analyst Daniel Da Prato to the on-field staff to assist with special teams.

"Other than that, you won't see a lot of game-day changes," he said. "Joe Craddock will continue to call the plays, and obviously Chief [John Chavis] will run our defense.

"Like I said before, it's gonna be less about scheme and more about trying to get our guys to play with great resolve and character."

Lunney's ascension was met with applause by the Razorback players when he and Yurachek met with the team on Sunday night at the Smith Football Center, sources with knowledge of the meeting said.

Yurachek met with the coaching staff Monday to provide further guidance.

"Hunter met with us this morning and said it very clearly and very well," Lunney said. "I think he said things we all know. Everybody at our table has been through this in some way, shape or form.

"The thing you can't lose sight of, and that we're going to refuse to lose sight of, is that we don't really owe anything to anybody other than our players and ourselves to make the best of the next three weeks for these young men. We've got 120 players down there that have not reaped the benefit of the hard work, the labor, the offseason.

"We've got two weeks left of a guaranteed 12-game season. We owe that to them as a staff, these kids. And we owe that to ourselves to put our best foot forward for these last two football games. I'm very confident we're going to do that."

Sports on 11/12/2019